Dutch Leon
by EchowolfS
Summary: Its been three weeks since the Spiral War, and it's about time Den and Harrison got a proper home. Zhalia offers to become their full legal Guardian, but while back in Holland to finish up of the paperwork, the Foundation's one and only spy gets a mission... and the surprise of a lifetime.
1. Chapter 1

Zhalia really got the short end of the stick when it came to both screen time and getting new titans in season 2, so I've come up with a few story ideas to bulk up her collection a bit. I've got several other ideas for titans, but not all of them are for Zhalia. I gotta share the love a little at least. I hope you enjoy this first chapter!

Also, a big thanks to everyone who commented on "Falcons and Butterflies". I normally reply to comments in the next chapter, but that's kinda hard to do for a one-shot, so I guess I'll do it here and hope they check out this one as well.

 **Nina Vale-** Zoos are the best. I would love to go to a zoo with open more open exhibits like the ones you described. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope you'll enjoy this one if you end up reading it as well.

 **Die Krote-** Thanks!

 **Guest-** You're too nice. I've got a few ideas about some more short Zhante stories, but I hope you like this one (if you read it) even though Dante isn't really in it much.

* * *

Zhalia kissed Dante goodbye at the gate while the twins said their farewells to Sophie, Lok and Cherit.

"I'm so excited for you guys!" Lok cheered. "Den and Harrison Moon. Not a bad name change if you ask me."

Both boys scratched the backs of their heads in sync. "Come on, Lok." Den mumbled. "She's not adopting us."

Lok paused in confusion and Sophie smacked him on the back of the head. "You have to be 18 years older than the kid when adopting in Holland, remember? Zhalia's not even ten years older than them."

Zhalia rolled her eyes as Sophie continued to reprimand the teen while Den and Harrison put their heads together and started whispering. With a sigh, she turned to Dante. "One more time, remind me why I'm doing this?"

He smiled softly, shaking his head at her sarcasm. "Because they both adore you. You're the one who found them, and in one way or another saved both from the Spiral. Also, you're doing this because you love them too."

She gave him another kiss before throwing her backpack over her shoulder. "Come on boys, we'll miss our flight."

Neither argued, and the rest of the team waved goodbye as they disappeared through the airport doors.

The three swiftly passed through security and baggage checks, found their gate, and waited for their flight to Holland. The twins were acting better than usual. The two would usually have started an argument by now over whose turn it was on their shared DS, pick fights, making faces at each other, and basically just be rowdy brothers. That wasn't the case today though.

They sat together, quietly talking with their backs to her. She knew they were plotting something. She just didn't know what, and that made her a little nervous.

The flight was a fast one, and with no delays, the three reached Holland actually earlier than scheduled. The twins grabbed their bags while Zhalia called the orphanage to see if she could come in that day to grab the paperwork and try to fill everything in before their meeting tomorrow.

After a quick taxi ride to their hotel, Zhalia set the boys up with snacks and the tv remote before heading out to the orphanage. Taking the bus was something Zhalia never liked, especially in Holland. As a child, she would often sneak onto busses to pickpocket or just get a little warmth when the weather turned bad. They had been places of opportunity and safety until one driver, an old brutish man with anchor tattoos all over his arms, beat her within an inch of her life and tossed her small body into the gutter afterwards.

Anxiety gripped her stomach at the memory, but Gareon reached out through his amulet to sooth her. His presence was comforting and kept her mind occupied until she had reached her destination. The bus came to a slow stop before an alleyway, and even more memories flooded back as she followed a crowd of people onto the sidewalk.

She remembered running from the alleyway in the dead of night. As a form of punishment, kids were often sent to bed without dinner. That night, she had been held against a wall and pummeled by one of the older girls who accused her of taking one of her handmade dolls, which she hadn't done, and was also refused a meal along with her attacker. While everyone else was eating, Zhalia had been trapped in the dorm with the girl. Terrified of what she could do, Zhalia had escaped through one of the windows and made a run for it.

She had been out for two weeks before being found again. But after her first escape, no one could keep her caged. That alley was her doorway to freedom, and she used it liberally.

After coming out of her thoughts, she found herself standing before the old building. She felt eyes on her back, and with a quick glance, she confirmed that all of the kids in the courtyard were watching her. Some eyes were filled with hope, others with hatred, and others still with confusion and curiosity. With a sigh, she turned back and carefully entered her childhood hell.

At the front was a small desk, and at that desk sat a familiar face. If this place was hell, Ms. Cowry was Satan. Zhalia tried to block out her fear of the woman by turning to anger, replaying all of the times the woman had scolded and punished her for things she hadn't done.

"And you are?" That slimy voice sent chills down her spine.

"Zhalia Moon. I'm here about the two boys that went missing months ago."

Cold dead eyes peeked over ancient reading glasses, and paper thin lips curled into an even deeper frown. "Sit."

Zhalia glanced down at the child sized chair before the desk and was immediately insulted. Glancing around, she saw a larger chair at a table nor far away. She moved to go grab it when the wretched witch cleared her throat. Anger clawed at the seekers throat, but she turned back and sat down, the small chair forcing her knees into her chin.

"You've grown tall." The woman said while opening a file cabinet behind the desk.

"A steady supply of good food does wonders for the human body." Zhalia did her best to keep any malice from her voice, but with her track record, she had to assume she failed.

The woman grumbled at her response, turning back with two file folders and a thick packet of paperwork. "We've already started the process over the phone, am I correct?"

"Yes. I just need the last few papers and the meeting tomorrow." Zhalia reached for the papers, but Cowry pulled them back.

"Do you understand how the meeting will go?" Zhalia nodded, but she continued anyways, taking that insulting tone she would use to reprimand a child for a mistake in their studies. "The boys will meet with us individually and we'll find out what happened and more about you from their perspective, and then we'll meet with you, and then if all goes well, the final papers will be signed and you'll be free to take them home."

Zhalia couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I'm very sorry, but can I have the papers? I have some errands to run tonight."

Cowry's scowl somehow deepened even further, but she offered up the papers anyways. Zhalia tried not to snatch the files away from her. She said her thanks and farewells, easily stood from the small chair, and left. As she stepped outside, a small dark haired girl greeted her.

"Who're you?" Her green eyes were locked on Zhalia.

Her patience was dangerously short, but she bent down anyways. "My name's Zhalia."

"Are you here to take one of us away?"

Zhalia hesitated. One would think adoption was cause for a celebration in orphanages, but that was far from the truth when it came to the other kids. Jealously ate away at them, causing more fights and even worse attitudes than normal. But those sad green eyes kept Zhalia from lying this time.

"Yes. I've been taking care of two boys who ran away from here for a while now, and it's about time they headed back to school. I can't make them go unless I'm their guardian though."

The little girl's eyes filled with tears, but she nodded and smiled. "That's good."

After a quick goodbye, the girl ran off to a cluster of older kids to spread the word. Zhalia watched them all for a moment, her heart pained by the expressions of shattered hope and frustration that were written over all of their faces.

With a sigh, Zhalia headed back towards the alley, and with nothing better to do, she opted to walk back to the hotel.

* * *

Den and Harrison waited for at least ten minutes after Zhalia left them before whipping out their phone and calling Sophie.

"Okay, she just went to grab some papers, so how's the party prep going?"

Sophie gasped. "You're not supposed to know about that! Did Lok tell you?!"

"Of course he did!" Harrison couldn't keep his laughter down. "He can't keep a secret to save his life."

"Listen, we've only got about thirty minutes, so tell us everything!"

"Like I'm going to tell you two _anything_ about your surprise party! You'll just have to wait till you get back. Does Zhalia know about it?"

"Not that we know. She's actually good at keeping secrets." Den laughed at the offended "hey!" in the background of the call.

"Can you guys at least help us out with something though?" Harrison pulled out the notepad they'd been scribbling on. "We want to do something for Zhal, but she'd find out about it for sure if we did it before we left."

He could practically see Sophie's excited face as she answered. "What do you have in mind?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Nina Vale-** Zhalia's definitely my favorite character in Huntik. Out of all the other main characters, she's the only one with a _true_ story arc. On where her orphanage is and where she was found, it probably was an oversight but it interesting to think about. I agree that she'd probably try and keep as far away from her orphanage as possible, which is probably why she was found so far away from there, but it would make for some good backstories about her. Tiny Zhalia hitting the road with no destination in mind... but that's beside the point. I actually somehow unintentionally bridged that gap by just using a nondescript"Holland" the entire time, but apparently both Amsterdam _and_ Rotterdam are technically in Holland.

I'm just gonna go ahead and share what I learned today, so even though Holland is normally just used as another name for the Netherlands, there are actually two provinces in the Netherlands that have Holland in their name, _Noord-_ Holland and Zuid-Holland. (take a wild guess at what Noord and Zuid mean) Amsterdam is in Noord-Holland and Rotterdam is in Zuid-Holland (they're actually less than two hours away from each other by car). (praise be to small miracles/coincidences because i _do not_ want to comb through this story to fix the location) Thanks for leaving a comment and I hope you enjoy the story!

 **Guest-** I'm glad you like it so far and I hope the rest of the story lives up to your expectations! Thanks for commenting again and giving me a way to recognize that it's you if you comment in the future!

Den and Harrison both did their best to not hide in their jackets as Ms. Cowry and the social worker stared down at them. They decided to speak with them together at first, without Zhalia. She was escorted out of the room by another worker at the orphanage, and now there they sat. Before a demon and a stranger. An exchanged glance confirmed to both that neither was comfortable with their audience.

"It's been a while," Cowry scowled, and Den was almost sure the ends of her lips might fall off of her face.

"Yeah. How've you been?" Harrison couldn't look in her eyes as his brother responded.

"Worried sick. Where have you two been? And what happened to the others? They wound up on our door one day but they won't say anything."

Den and Harrison exchanged another glance, before the elder twin spoke up again. "We just wanted out. Those idiots picked on us for the last time, so we ran. They followed us for a while, but we weren't gonna come back."

"When did you meet Zhalia?" The worker, Ms. Stevens asked gently. She was a stony faced young woman, but her voice was gentle and relaxed.

"Actually, not long after we ran away. She helped us get away from some thugs and she got us dinner. We refused to tell her were we were from, but she said she lived in Venice. After she left, we hung around for a while, then decided to go find her again." Stevens gave him a weird look, nearly causing Den to stumble. "It's not like we had anything better to do. We rode busses, hitchhiked, and basically did anything we could to get there."

Den nudged Harrison, seeing that Cowry was tired of hearing from him. "Yeah. I still can't believe we found her. You guys should have seen her face when we bumped into her. She wouldn't help until we explained what was going on, and we told her we were orphans, but we wouldn't tell her where we were from until a little while ago."

"Her boyfriend, Dante- he's a really nice guy by the way, mentioned having her adopt us recently, and that's when we told her. I can't tell if she was more shocked about us showing up in her city or finding out we all came from the same orphanage. She finally decided to just go for it and called you." Den finished.

Cowry and Stevens exchanged a disbelieving glance. "She just let you two in after you followed her? How did you even manage to find her in the first place?"

"She said she works for a small museum in Venice so we asked around and some nice dude was able to point us in the right direction. She was actually talking to Dante at the front desk when we first found her again." Harrison smiled, trying to mimic what it looked like to remember something funny.

"Yeah. She was pretty confused, and then pissed when we told her what we were doing there, but she didn't want to just throw us out. She let us stay as long as we helped out with chores and kept up our studies. She basically was like a big sister to us." Den cast his brother a glance, vaguely remembering Harrison saying something similar a while ago.

Cowry somehow scowled even harder, then waved Harrison away. "We'll begin the individual meetings now. We'll call you in later Harrison."

The brothers exchanged glances and Harrison quietly stood to leave.

"Okay, Den, tell us more about Zhalia. Don't think about what your brother thinks or feels, just tell us how you feel about her."

"Well, she's really great. She can be a little cold when she's really angry. I didn't think she'd ever speak to me again when I broke a super expensive vase at the museum, but we had a super long talk and we were okay. I just have to help out at the museum to help pay for it."

The two exchanged a glance, making Den think he had said something wrong. Fear gripped his chest. "But she rarely gets angry at us! Zhalia's really patient and caring when it comes to us. You can ask our friends, Lok and Sophie. She's real short with them, but she'll give us a _hundred_ chances before getting angry. And even when she is mad about something we did, she makes us sit down and tells us what we did wrong."

"It's okay, Den. What else do you want us to know about Zhalia." Stevens soothed.

"Well… She's super smart. She made us keep up studying while our friends were in school. She helped us with whatever subject we were having trouble with. She even takes us out to places where we can do fun science and math experiments. Dante also helps out sometimes. We all go to movies and places together."

"How do you feel about Dante? Is he over often?" Cowry asked.

"He's the best! He taught me some karate moves, and we normally hang out at his place. Also, whenever they want a date night, we go hang out at our friend Sophie's. She's got a mansion."

"How old is Sophie?"

"Sixteen, almost seventeen. Lok's the same age, and they're totally dating, but neither will admit it." Den grinned.

"Okay now, how do you feel about her home?"

* * *

Harrison was waiting for about thirty minutes, counting down the second while Zhalia finished going through the papers. Anxiety ate at his stomach, and he turned his Antideluvian amulet in his hands.

"Nervous?" Zhalia asked without looking away from her work. "Don't be. These people want you out almost as badly as you. It took Klaus all of three days to get me out, and I was way younger than you two were."

Harrison let out a shaky breath. "I just don't know what I'll do if we have to stay. Our story's kind of incredible, but I think I might _actually_ have to hitchhike to Venice if they refuse your application."

This caused Zhalia to stop. Reaching around his thin shoulders, she pulled him into a one armed hug. "Listen, if they refuse, I'll just try again. You're my broer, and so is Den. I'll even move back here if it means I can still keep an eye on you two."

Harrison eased into the embrace, resting his head on her shoulder for just a second before standing to stretch. It was then that the office door opened. Den walked out and Ms. Cowry beckoned for Harrison.

He cast a glance back at Zhalia, who nodded. Den sat close to Zhalia's side, making a show of hanging off of her shoulder and pestering her about finishing the papers quickly so they could go home. Den's ease relaxed Harrison for a moment, then he entered the small room alone with the two women.

He sat down cautiously.

"Okay, Harrison, can you tell me a little more about Zhalia?" Ms. Stevens asked.

"Well, she's like the sister I'd never had. Ever since we found her, she's always been there for me. She kept us safe, fed, and happy. When Den was growing close to Lok and Sophie but I was having a harder time with them, she stuck by me and helped me work things out." Harrison rattled off.

"Does she have a temper?"

"She rarely gets angry at us." He answered easily. It was nice having a direct question. "She lets us know if we've done something stupid, and she makes sure we make amends whenever we fight or break something that isn't ours."

"Den mentioned she has a boyfriend. How do you like him?"

Harrison rubbed the back of his neck. "Honestly? He's really intimidating to me. He's really nice and all, and I know I'm just being stupid, but he's super strong and good looking and everything. He's like the perfect guy for her, and they work really well together."

"Is that a problem for you?" Ms. Cowry raised an eyebrow.

"I just kind of stayed away from him for the first few months. He was convinced that I hated him. Which… isn't necessarily true? I just… He really likes Zhalia, and she really likes him. Den's cool with it, but she's basically going to be our sister and mom" Harrison shivered at the thought. "in one. I- I just don't know."

"Harrison, it's okay to be jealous." Ms. Stevens gave a reassuring smile.

"I'm not jealous! She spends a heck of a lot more time with us than with him." He nearly jumped out of his seat at the accusation, both flustered and annoyed. There was no way he could ever begin to explain that at one point he was so deep into the Spiral that he wanted to kill Dante with his own two hands. Den knew Zhalia loved him, it was evident the moment she broke down when the Betrayer said he was dead. But for so long, Dante was his enemy, and Zhalia was his only friend.

"Alright, how about her home? Can you tell us about that?"

* * *

Den flopped back into his seat with an exhausted sigh. "That was the freaking worst."

"I don't think I had a meeting like this when Klaus adopted me." Zhalia flipped through the paperwork one last time before setting the stack aside and cracking her knuckles. "If we did, I don't remember anything."

"Be glad about that if you did have one. I think I've been traumatized." Den rolled his eyes.

Zhalia ruffled his hair, pushing him slightly. "You were not. Can you give me a read of the room before I head in there?"

"You want _me_ to tell you what Ms. Cowry thought? Listen, I'm good, but not that good."

"True, but what about Stevens?" Zhalia chuckled.

"She might be even worse. You can kind of tell when Cowry's pissed, but I think Stevens is a robot programed with a mom voice. It's kinda weird."

"You were in there for a long time. What did you guys talk about?"

Den felt his cheeks flush. "So I totally rambled through most of the questions and I don't really remember all that I said but neither seemed super one way or the other when I left."

"So, based on how many questions they asked, how long do you think Harrison will take?"

"No clue. I think my mind is starting to repress everything that was said."

"Geez, you're helpful."

It was another fifteen minutes before Harrison finally left the room. Gathering all of the papers and files, Zhalia took a breath and headed in.

Den and Harrison compared questions and answers for as long as either could stand it. They both managed to keep their story straight the entire time and both promised to remind each other to thank Zhalia for the hours of questioning beforehand, and both did their best to highlight everything that made Zhalia- and somehow also Dante, great. Their plans and preparations were unfolding perfectly.

It was a solid hour before the door opened again. And when it did, Ms. Stevens and Cowry came out first. Zhalia followed them out, her expression unreadable as she shook their hands. Finally Zhalia turned to them.

"All of your things were already re-gifted to the other kids here," The twins' hearts sank for half a second, but then a smile broke out on Zhalia's face. "There's nothing left for us here. Come on, let's go home."


	3. Chapter 3

**Nina Vale-** I haven't adopted or seen the process or have even known anyone who knows about this kind of thing either, so thank goodness for the internet. I'm glad you think their fake story is good because when i first started this i completely overlooked the fact that the orphanage people would probably want to know where the kids went and what on earth they had been doing in those missing months.

I knew the Netherlands and Holland were used interchangeably most times, but I didn't know about the provinces. I thought it was neat so I just wanted to share.

 **IreneRays-** I'm glad you like the story and I hope you continue to like it! I _really_ wanted to give her some good quips, but Zhalia's not stupid. She knows when to keep her mouth shut. I don't know why I love the idea of Harrison being slightly jealous of Dante, but it's just adorable to me. I feel like it makes sense with his personality and would make for some funny moments between the three.

 **Die Krote-** I'm glad you like the story! (and don't worry. I'm bad at commenting too)

 **Amelia-** Thank you! Honestly one of the top things I would have wanted from a season 3 was more interaction between Zhalia and the Fear brothers.

* * *

Zhalia treated her new wards to a fancy dinner before heading back to the hotel. Their flight was scheduled in two days, so they realistically only had one full day left in Holland. After all of the stress from the past few weeks, all three slept in and left the hotel late, leaving only half a day to do whatever they wanted. With nothing better to do, the three found a nearby amusement park, and though Zhalia loathed the idea of being around mobs of small screaming children, she bought the brothers tickets for every ride and game they wanted to play.

The brothers had finally managed to convince Zhalia to go on a roller coaster with them when her phone rang. Seeing that it was Gugenheim, she stepped out of line to answer.

"Moon."

"Zhalia, I know this is a very important trip, but I have a mission for you." He cut straight to the point, as he knew she wasn't one to be taken by long sappy apologies. "It's a short one. Shouldn't even last a day."

"What is it?"

"One of our operatives has come across a newly awakened amulet in the Rijksmuseum. It's been mistaken as a golden broach for centuries. We've tried to speak with the curators, but they are adamant about keeping it. I'm afraid you're the only person with the skill set we need to recover it. The operative will meet you at the front steps tomorrow and give you the rest of the details then."

Zhalia couldn't help but roll her eyes. Gugenheim really wasn't giving her a choice with this one. "And if I say no?"

"Then the Organization will have the opportunity to get a _very_ powerful titan. Also, I'm afraid I'm not asking if you will take this. If our research is correct, this is not something we can let slip through our fingers."

"Fine," She sighed. "You owe me a new plane ticket though. We were supposed to be going home tomorrow.

"If you get this titan without incident, I'll bump you up to first class and give you a bonus out of my own pocket." Zhalia couldn't help but sigh again. The foundation paid well, but she suddenly had two tweenagers to look after. She was going to need all of the bonuses she could get. Under the table or not.

"Send me the time and place, and I'll be there."

Without waiting for a response, Zhalia hung up and tried to spot her wards in the now doubled line. She caught a glimpse of Harrison's wild hair as he and his brother boarded the ride. She shrugged, honestly not really upset by missing a ride that not only was half upside down, but reversed all the way back to the start once they reached the end of the tracks. She found a bench near the ride exit and while the two were screaming their heads off, she made the necessary arrangements for the mission.

"That was awesome!" Two voices cheered, and Zhalia turned to see both boys staggering towards her. She smiled and shook her head at how wired the roller coaster had made the two.

"I'm afraid plans have changed slightly." She put up a hand before the two could begin rattling off about their favorite parts. "I've been given a surprise mission, so I won't be heading back with you guys tomorrow."

Den's jaw dropped, and Harrison just stared at her in half panic half worry. "But, but…"

This was definitely not the reaction she was expecting, but she continued. "It's a quick one. I should be back the very next day."

Guilt tugged at her stomach as all of the wind seemed to be taken from the boys' sails, but it couldn't be helped. All three of them knew they couldn't go with. Their very first day of school was in five days, and they needed time to prepare. Lok and Sophie had promised to take them on a day long shopping trip to celebrate, and Dante even flew in to see them off on their first day as well.

"What's the mission about?" Den finally asked.

"An amulet has awoken in a museum and the curators are being stingy. Gugenheim basically wants me to steal it."

"When will you be heading out?" Harrison tried to gather himself.

"As soon as you two get on your flight tomorrow. The museum's not even an hour away by car. Hell, I might be able to catch a plane home that night if I'm lucky."

The two boys sighed at the same time.

"Fine," Den crossed his arms and put on a fake pout. "But you've gotta make it up to us!"

"Make it up to you? We'll be apart for a _single_ _day_. Let me have one last day alone before we live together for the next four to six years." She teased. "Come on, I promised I'd go on a ride of your choice. We'll do one more then head out and get some food."

Zhalia ended up regretting her words as they got right back in line for the nightmare upside down backwards ride.

"I can't believe you." Harrison grumbled, crossing his arms as they headed for the exit. "No scream or anything? Are you even human?"

Zhalia smiled, pleased that her sheer force of will was enough to keep any kind of reaction off of her face. The boys might have been disappointed, she knew both were secretly hoping to see her scared out of her wits, but it was good exercise for her self-control.

They ate out at the bar right next to the hotel and Zhalia allowed the two to stay up and watch movies until both literally passed out. Just another small treat she could offer before activating the mom mode she silently prayed existed within her.

The flight was scheduled early that next morning, which meant Zhalia got to very quickly regret her leniency with the two the night before. After literally dragging the two as far as she could take them in the airport, she handed them off to a worker who helped guide unattended minors.

"I'm sure you already know this, but I'll just go over this one more time for them." The creepily happy woman smiled. No human had any right to be so energetic that early in the morning. "I'll guide you to your gate, and once you're on the plane, the flight attendants will check in on you regularly. Once you get off, a worker will be at the gate to guide you to the pickup area where you'll meet your friends."

Zhalia stifled a chuckle as the Den and Harrison both exchanged dead stares, neither awake enough to fully comprehend what was being said to them. "They'll be fine, right boys?"

Both slowly nodded their heads, completely in zombie mode. After some weak goodbyes, Zhalia left the two and quickly found the bus station.

The trip took a little more than two hours, both of which flew by while she called the school and finished setting everything up for the twin's first day. She called Dante as well in order to warn him about the change of plans, and was surprised to hear some disappointment in his voice as he said goodbye.

When she finally reached the front steps of the Rijksmuseum, she simply let the operative find her instead of wasting energy searching for someone she had never seen before. After about thirty minutes, a young man approached her. "Zhalia Moon?"

"Fondation?" She raised an eyebrow and he nodded, offering her a small wrapped package that fit into the palm of her hand. Without looking at it, she hid the small box in her pocket as he led her to an alleyway nearby.

"The amulet is gold with a red gem in its center. Lion fangs hold the stone in place and the amulet is shaped like a sun. We assume the titan is Dutch Leon, the Lion of Holland."

"No kidding." Zhalia couldn't help but whistle. "I've heard about it before."

The amulet had been supposedly lost to time. It originally was stolen from Africa, like the lions in the old story, but the creature would no longer be called by anything but Dutch Leon after being passed down by Dutch seekers for hundreds of years. The story was a strange one compared to other Titan legends. The King of Holland once ordered hunters to bring back a lion from the faraway lands of Africa, and his wish was answered with an entire family. A father, a mother, and two lion cubs were given to him by the hunters upon their return. There, the male lion was forced to stand in painful poses in order to have paintings created. When the father lion died, he was stuffed and posed. When his family was brought before his corpse, they marveled at how well-groomed he was, and used the nail in their tails to look just like father lion.

Zhalia had never understood why the lion never fought back. He was a lion, and he had nails imbedded into his tail to use as a weapon. Instead, he submitted to his torturers and died, and his family used their strange weapons to comb their furs instead of avenge their father.

After the man gave her a short description of where the amulet was, Zhalia set to work. She summoned Gareon in his non-powerbonded form and he turned invisible before wrapping around her neck. He was more than likely going to be a big part of her plan, so he needed to scope out the area as well.

She took her time to wander around the great museum. It wasn't long before she stumbled across the amulet's room by chance. As soon as she entered the room, Zhalia sensed its presence. Even so, she took her time looking at all of the other pieces of jewelry. She could appreciate the beauty, but rings and necklaces could be bothersome in a fight so she never gave any of it a second thought.

When her eyes finally fell on the amulet, she understood why Gugenheim was so eager to get his hands on it. It was practically pulsing with untapped power. It wasn't untamed like most recently awakened titans, but very controlled. Its aura beat steadily like a heartbeat and it gave off off a protective energy.

Gareon shifted against her neck, and she could sense the amulet was unsettling to him. While she would have been glad to just swipe it right there, she never would be able to set foot in any museum ever again. Moving onwards, she examined the room.

No windows, just two doors to funnel visitors in and out of the room, and a maze of jewelry cases to navigate through. Four cameras on each corner, and it was safe to assume that each piece was set on a vibration sensor even though they were in glass containers. It would be difficult to get to for a normal thief, but Gareon and a couple of spells would make this a piece of cake.

After wandering the rest of the museum, Zhalia left. It would be some time before closing, so she went to her hotel to check in, got herself something to eat, and slept for the rest of the day. It was midnight when her alarm woke her. Far past closing time and late enough to where few people would be out and about near the museum. She grabbed a coat from her bag, summoned Gareon again, and headed out.

While making her way back towards the museum, she remembered the small item the foundation operative gave her. She opened it in her jacket pocket, carefully investigating it with her fingertips. The object in the box was meant to make her life a little easier, but wow was it a bad fake.

After activating thought specter and turning herself invisible, she sent Gareon in through one of the air vents and set up shop near a window. It took her partner titan all of fifteen minutes to find the window she was waiting at and unlock it from the inside.

After rewarding him with a scratch under the chin, she slipped into the dark halls. Using any kind of light would give her away, so she relied on memory to maneuver through the many rooms. Gareon could better see in the dark, so he helped guide her to the right glass case once they reached the jewelry room.

"Farslip." She whispered as her hand hovered over the lock on the case.

Gareon slipped his clawed hand into her pocket and grabbed the fake amulet. He climbed over her arms as she lifted the glass case and quickly exchanged the two. Just as she predicted, an alarm went off as soon as it was touched. Gareon grabbed another piece of jewelry from the case and once Zhalia closed it again, he tossed the piece to the opposite hall where they had come from. Hopefully it would throw the guards off their track for a little wile.

Two guards ran into the room, and Zhalia hugged the walls to avoid bumping into one while invisible. She easily slipped past them and escaped out of the same window she entered through. Gareon growled with pleasure at how easy this mission was once they were off museum grounds.

"Good work." She praised, scratching under his chin.

She kept the amulet hidden in her fist as they walked down the lonely street. Even still, she ducked into an alleyway to attempt bonding with the powerful titan.

She could sense its name, and confirmed that it was indeed Dutch Leon, but it seemed unwilling to bond with her. It wasn't down right refusing her, but she could sense that if anyone wanted to bond with such a titan, they would have to prove themselves.

Pulling out her phone, she called Gugenheim. "Hey, it's Zhalia. I've got the amulet and it's without a doubt Dutch Leon."

"Did you bond with it?"

"No. I might be able to, but I don't know what it wants from me."

"Well then, be sure to get it to the safe house quickly. We don't want anyone to come after it while you're out there alone." He sighed.

"Right. I'll head over now. Just make sure someone's awake to open the door for me." She hung up and put the amulet in her pocket. Gareon nuzzled her cheek before returning to his own amulet, and Zhalia continued down the dark alleyway.

She had barely made it two steps out of the alley when a sound stopped her. Zhalia blinked. It was a small cry, muffled and far away, but a cry all the same. She was in the shopping district, so there were no houses close by for it to be coming from, and no one was walking on the streets… Something wasn't right.

Turning back to the alleyway, she retraced her steps, and the sound grew louder. Zhalia was even more baffled when she took a few more steps and the sound was suddenly behind her again. But she hadn't passed anyone or anything.

Looking around, she found a small duffel bag that seemed to be thickly packed hidden in the shadows of a garbage can. Dread sunk deep into her belly as she knelt down. Carefully, she unzipped the bag, and the cry rang out loud and clear.

"Oh, hey…" Zhalia's heart broke as she pulled the swaddled infant from the bag. The poor thing was hot to the touch. Pulling away the blanks, she cradled the baby close to her chest and spoke softly to try and comfort it. "It's okay… Everything's going to be okay."


	4. Chapter 4

**Guest A-** Thanks for taking the time to review again and I'm glad you're still enjoying the story! I absolutely love rollercoasters but I flat out refuse to go on this one in a park near me that goes backwards. No thank you! Put me on anything else and I'll be fine but i need to be able to see where I'm going. I hope you like the rest of the story!

 **Nina Vale-** I agree. She's definitely an older sister figure to them, just trying to keep them in line and alive but also deeply cares about them as well. Babies and teenagers are two _entirely_ different beasts to handle.

 **Guest review for Falcon and Butterflies:** Glad you enjoyed and I hope you also enjoy this story!

* * *

Den and Harrison were out for the entire flight. When it was finally time to go, the attendants had to shake them both awake so they could unload. The twins groggily grabbed their bags and followed the lady who greeted them at the gate out to the baggage claim. After grabbing their stuff, they absentmindedly headed towards the pickup area to wait for Dante.

It was only when Den saw Dante waiting for them did he suddenly remember what he was about to go home to. He pinched Harrison's arm when he headed towards the man. "Hey, remember to play it cool. Dante doesn't know we know."

Harrison paused and blinked for a moment, then he tried to hide the smile on his face. "Oh, right!" Then he wavered. "I wish Zhalia was here though. This party was going to be for her too."

"She might be back tonight, so we've got to keep the party going as long as possible. Deal?"

"Deal."

Pleased with their plan, the two did their best to return to their zombie mode and continued towards their former team leader.

"Hey boys." Dante greeted them. "Still half asleep?"

"What?" Den asked, pretending to be too exhausted to understand the question.

The red haired man laughed. "Come on. You can sleep on the way."

Den and Harrison were far too excited to even consider sleeping any more. Minutes ticked by like hours as they waited to reach Dante's.

When they finally reached the front door, both were slightly disappointed to see no decorations at the threshold. Den and Harrison exchanged a glance, both silently wishing the team was still trying to make it somewhat of a surprise.

Dante helped the two grab their things and followed the two to the door. "Lok, Sophie, and Cherit set a little something up for you two while you were away. You guys should go in first." Dante smiled.

Neither boy could keep the excitement off of their faces anymore. They ran up the steps and fought to be the one to open the door. Den grabbed the handle first, but Harrison used his brother's body to push the door open.

"Harrison, Den!" Sophie reprimanded as they tumbled into the living room. "If you break anything, Zhalia's gonna be the one paying for it, not the Foundation."

The two gave a quick apology and jumped to their feet, excited to see what their teammates had been up to while they were gone. Balloons and streamers were hung everywhere, and there was a big poster with Den, Harrison, and Zhalia's names on it along with crude drawings of their amulets.

Cherit and Lok stepped forwards and offered the two party hats.

"I guess this is an official welcome to the family," The old titan grinned. "I'm glad everything worked out."

"Yeah!" Lok cheered. "I'm still calling you the Moon brothers though. Oh, maybe you guys can mash your names together! Fears-Moon, or Moon-Fears! Aww, Moon-Fears is actually kinda cool!"

"Thanks Cherit," Den laughed. "And thanks, Lok. I'm just glad we've finally got a legit place to call home. We won't ever have to worry about going back to _that_ place again."

Den turned to his brother, who nodded in agreement.

"Well, you'll always have a home now." Sophie stepped forwards with a wide grin on her face.

"That's right." Dante came up behind the two and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "You may legally be Zhalia's, but we're _all_ here for you."

Suddenly, there was a cheer that rang through the house. From behind furniture and doors, several different people jumped out from their hiding places and greeted the boy.

"Mrs. Lambert?" Den blinked as the older woman gathered him up in a hug.

"Oh, Den, I'm so happy for you!" She then turned to Harrison. "And you! Thank goodness you're alright."

Montague jumped out from behind a chair and grabbed the twins both, lifting them up off of their feet and jostling them about, all three laughing after the two realized who it was.

Scarlet, Metz, and Tersely, Teeg and Galen, Viviane and some other casterwills, even Lucas, Dellix, and Lane had come to help celebrate Zhalia's new guardianship over the two boys. Den was moved to tears, sniffing hard to try and hold them back, while Harrison was left utterly speechless.

The twins didn't even have to try and keep the party going on as long as possible. Everyone was enjoying each other's company, catching up and reminiscing on missions and just life in general while the hours ticked by. It took all of ten minutes for Harrison to also hang off of Mrs. Lambert's every word, much to the amusement to everyone in the room. They played games, ate the cake Mrs. Lambert had made for the special occasion, and made the most of their time together since none of them knew when they'd all be able to meet up again.

It was well past midnight when Dante got a phone call.

"Den, Harrison," He called the two over as he answered. "It's Zhalia."

Both boys exchanged a guilty look. They had completely forgotten about her with everything that was going on. Worry soon took over as they both realized they hadn't heard from her since she saw them off in Holland.

"Hey, Zhal," Dante answered. "Do you need a lift? ...What? No, I completely understand. They're right here if you want to talk to them. Okay, I'll see you soon."

Dante handed the phone to Den and motioned to the stairs. Taking the hint, the two headed up to the guest bedroom. After closing the door behind them, they turned the phone on speaker and sat on the edge of the bed.

"What happened?" Harrison asked immediately. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, really. I just need to stay here for a few more days." She paused. "Something's come up."

"But- wait, how long are you going to be gone?" Den stumbled. "You're supposed to see us off on our first day of school!"

"Listen, I'd really rather be on a flight back in the morning, but… But this is serious." She sighed, and for a moment the two believed she might not explain what was going on, but then she did. And both kind of regretted their anger with her. "Someone decided to zip up their baby in a duffel bag and dump her in an alley way. I stumbled across her after completing the mission and I've taken her to a nearby hospital. Of course the cops were called and I've basically been asked to stay nearby and keep my schedule open."

She paused to allow everything to sink in. "I need to stay here for now. I'm so sorry, but this is how it's got to be. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." Harrison was the first to answer. "We understand."

* * *

Zhalia let the two slowly start to ramble about their day and how everyone surprised them. She couldn't help but grin as they accused each other of turning into puppies in the presence of Mrs. Lambert. She couldn't help but be reminded of Dante's logos book entry detailing their visit to Ireland and the mystical island of Tir na nOg.

She smiled at the memory as she stood in the waiting room. She had been pacing there ever since the police left. The Doctors said she would be able to see the infant again once the police report was filed. Well, the police had finally left her alone, and no one had come to get her.

After another fifteen minutes, a nurse came up to her. "Are you the one who brought the baby in?"

"Yes. Is she alright?" Zhalia asked, relieved that she hadn't been forgotten.

"She had overheated in that bag. If you hadn't found her when you did…" The woman shivered. "Fifteen years and sick babies never get any easier. I'll take you up to her, if you want."

Zhalia nodded and the woman gladly lead her to the infant room. A doctor was standing over the baby's cot, busily writing something on his clipboard.

"Doctor, this is the woman who found the baby." The Nurse quietly called to him.

The older man turned to the two and gave a sad smile. "That must have been quite the surprise."

Zhalia returned the man's pained expression. "I'm just glad she was still alive when I found her."

"Everyone is." He pulled the clipboard under his arm and offered her his hand, which she easily shook. "The baby's around three months old, and though she was overheated and dehydrated, she's perfectly fine otherwise. We'll push fluids tonight just to be sure and check her temperature regularly."

Zhalia let out a relieved sigh and looked down on the sleeping infant. They had placed her in a clean white onesie and a thin knitted blanket was carefully draped over her. She already looked so much better than when Zhalia first found her. "Okay. I'm so glad she's alright."

"I know the police have already interrogated you enough, but may I ask how you found her? I haven't had the time to find anything out yet." The doctor reached in the cot and gently touched the baby's small hand.

Zhalia recounted her midnight walk around the town and how she had heard crying in a completely abandoned alleyway. "I brought her here as fast as I could. The cops took the blankets and the bag."

"Would you like to hold her now that she's settled?" The nurse asked as the little girl began to fuss slightly.

Zhalia hesitated, but the woman was already pulling the tiny baby out of the cot. She carefully accepted the warm bundle and held her close. Words couldn't describe how good it felt to hold the baby when she wasn't burning up and screaming.

There was a small beeping and the doctor pulled a pager from his pocket. "I'm afraid I have to go. I'll be by later."

As he took his leave, the nurse pulled a rocking chair closer to the cot. "I have to go as well. I'll come by to check on you two later."

Zhalia blinked as the woman quickly took her leave. She looked around the sea of other cots, each one filled with a sleeping baby, and sighed. Settling down in the chair, she carefully began to rock the child, who nestled closer to her with its own content sigh.

* * *

Steel grinned as he followed the wisps of power to a nearby hospital. Someone had managed to grab the amulet of Dutch Leon before his team could reach the museum in time, but since they could still sense the amulet, he knew whoever had stolen it couldn't bond with it. And because of this, he could easily track down the little thief and take it for himself.

"Fuck the Organization," He had said to his team members. "This one's mine."

He wasn't trying to defect. He just wanted the amulet. It's not like the Organization had given him a raise for any of his efforts or the years he had put into the company. But here was an opportunity. If he couldn't make the titan bond with him, fine, but if he had the slightest chance to bond with _Dutch Leon_ , he was going to take it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Nina Vale-** Don't worry, everything comes around, I promise. Mrs. Lambert is definitely in the top 10 best cartoon moms for me. She's such a strong and complex character. I can only imagine how hard it was for her to have her husband go missing while she was caring for her two children, yet she kept her chin up and did what she had to to keep her family strong. Huntik really does have some amazing female characters and not one of them is one of those anti-feminine warrior/tomboy types that is as 3 dimensional as a piece of paper.

 **Guest A** \- Glad you liked it!

* * *

Zhalia jumped as a hand was placed on her shoulder. Unfortunately, she had startled the infant still cradled in her arms and the small child began to wail. The seeker gave the nurse an annoyed look, but couldn't keep it up.

"The Social worker has found a good foster family. She'll be discharged tomorrow. Still haven't thought of a name?" The woman accepted the crying child as Zhalia stood to stretch.

"That's good, and I'm not good at naming things. So does that mean I can finally go home tomorrow?"

It had been two days since Zhalia had found the child. With nothing better to do, she kept close to the hospital. The nurses allowed her to stay past visiting hours since she kept quiet and out of the way. Because of this, she was constantly around the little girl.

Once she was feeling better, the little baby began to show her true colors. She was a curious little things. Constantly looking around and examining the world around her. She had pretty brown eyes and a few wisps of golden hair that stuck out everywhere no matter how many times Zhalia smoothed it down.

One doctor had accused Zhalia of being the child's mother and said she was just trying to get attention, but all Zhalia had to do was place the child's hand over hers and the stingy old man blushed hard before turning away. Zhalia's skin wasn't very dark, but this child was _pale_ with a capitol P. The doctor continued with the suspicious glances for a while afterwards, but after flashing her abs at the man, he never brought it up again.

"I'm afraid I don't know. Though I did hear some whispers about them wanting to question you about the museum theft as well."

Zhalia blinked. "Why?"

"Well, you found the baby not even three blocks away from the museum. So far you're the only civilian they've found who was close to the crime scene when the theft happened. I doubt they suspect you though. They probably just want to ask some questions." The nurse smiled.

"Great." Zhalia groaned. After finding the baby, she had completely forgotten about bringing the amulet to the safe house. Gugenheim went off on her for a solid ten minutes after she failed to bring the amulet to the safehouse in a timely manner. He changed his tune when she explained the setback, but she still hadn't dropped off the amulet yet.

Dutch Leon was a strange titan. She felt as if she could bond with him, and knew he was growing more used to her presence with every passing hour, but Zhalia still couldn't feel a connection to him. If the titan really did need her to prove herself, he would have to wait a little longer. She had the police breathing down her neck and the baby to look after for the time being.

"Why don't you go get something to eat? The cops could be here any minute, so you should go fill up now before spending another three hours in a room alone with those two."

Zhalia said a quick goodbye to the nurses and the little baby before heading out. Sure enough, on her way down, she spotted the two officers who had been assigned to the infant's case, and another who she assumed was going to ask her about the museum theft. In all honesty, she wasn't really hungry, but she wasn't in the mood to deal with them at the moment. Zhalia easily slipped past the three and headed to a nearby café.

She ordered some coffee and sat down at a table where she could see through the window, but wasn't close enough for people outside to see her. Zhalia didn't want to go too far or else the cops might get suspicious, but she didn't want to be easily found either.

The server came up with her coffee after a few minutes and she tried to make it last as long as possible. About fifteen minutes later, something- or rather, someone, caught her eye. Zhalia nearly dropped her cup in surprise as Mr. Steel from the Organization confidently strode in.

He paused just as he stepped into the threshold, blocking the only easy exit, and slowly looked around. Zhalia ducked her head, turning away from the entrance and towards the small tv in the corner that was playing the local news. When a man cleared his voice close behind her, she readied herself for a fight.

"It's been a while, Steel." Zhalia turned back and set her now empty cup down as Steel took a seat before her. "How's the organization been?"

"A train wreck, as usual." The man grinned. "Doesn't affect me though."

"Look, I've got some place to be in a few minutes. What do you want?" Zhalia judged his reaction carefully. The man only laughed in response.

"Of course you do. I just want to talk to you about that Dutch Leon amulet in your pocket." Zhalia flinched at the mention of it. "You haven't bonded with it. Why not hand it over to someone who can bring out that titan's true power?"

She wanted to knock the grin he gave her right off of his face. "Finders keepers, Steel. I just haven't had the time to get it to another foundation seeker who can bond with it."

Zhalia began to stand, and the Suit stood along with her. He grabbed her arm, but she quickly wrenched it away, accidentally knocking her chair to the ground. "Don't touch me!"

Everyone in the café was now watching them, which gave Zhalia some reassurance. Steel wasn't stupid. He'd never start a scene in a cramped and crowded area.

"Is there a problem, ma'am?" Two male bodybuilders approached her, with their girlfriends behind them also trying to puff themselves up to appear threatening.

"I was just trying to leave." Zhalia informed them. "If you could be so kind as to give me a ten minute head start, that'd be great."

"Are you sure about that?" One asked.

"Oh, I'm sure. Just don't let him see which way I went." Zhalia gave both an award winning smile before picking up her chair and quietly leaving. Once she was out the door and away from the windows, Zhalia ducked into an alley, hyper-strided up to the roofs and quickly headed to the Hospital.

Though she really didn't want to go, a three hour interview with some cops was just the thing she needed to disappear. Officers Jansen and Bakkers met her at the front doors. She greeted the two with a small smile.

"Miss Moon, it's good to see you again." Bakker flirted, and Zhalia did her best not to roll her eyes. "This is Chief Smit. He's got some questions for you about the museum heist."

"I'm afraid I don't know much about it." Zhalia lied.

"Well, we'll see about that." Smit scowled. The three lead her to a private office and to her surprise, Jansen had even more questions about how she found the baby. She recited her story again, for Smit, answered the questions, and then recounted the night as best she could.

Zhalia began with the fact that she often had night terrors from an experience in her childhood- thankfully, none of the officers asked about it, though Smit looked as if he wanted to, and said that running helps her work off the panic. She took a long run, longer than normal due to the severity of the night terror, and had lost her way. She cut through the alley, thinking a shop on the other side looked familiar when she heard the sound.

"So you didn't hear anything else? No alarms? No sirens?" Smit examined her face carefully.

"Not that I can remember. I was kind of distracted." Zhalia feigned sorrow.

"Don't worry about it." Bakker soothed, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. Zhalia did her best to keep from breaking his wrist. "Did you see anyone out and about while on your walk?"

"Some bums, a drunk or two… nothing out of the ordinary for that hour."

They kept her there for another hour before Smit finally seemed satisfied, though frustrated that she hadn't been able to tell him anything.

Before the officers could leave, Zhalia stopped Bakker. "Listen, do I really need to stay around for much longer? I promised my brothers I'd see them off on their first day of school, which is in two days. I really don't want to disappoint them."

"I'm truly sorry about all of this, ma'am." He made a show of taking off his hat for her. "I'll talk to the boss about it, but this seems like it will be a dead end case. Also, Smit might want to talk to you again about the museum once he finds a lead."

Zhalia thanked the man and waved him off as he hurried to catch up with his partner. With a sigh, she made her way back up to the nursery to visit the little girl again.

"Welcome back," One of the nurses greeted her. "Did you meet with the officers already?"

"Yeah. They thankfully didn't have too much to ask this time." Zhalia replied as she unconsciously headed to the infant's cot. Looking down, she found the baby girl was already grinning ear to ear at her presence. Zhalia smiled back as she lifted her up. "Hey, kid."

She took the child to a play mat in the corner and entertained the child for a while. After a few hours, it came time to feed her. The nurse came by with a bottle and Zhalia picked up the infant again and took her to the rocking chair. The little girl greedily gulped down the bottle, forcing Zhalia to occasionally take it away to keep her from choking. She never cried at it, but the faces the child made in protest were priceless.

"Such a darling," One of the nurses cooed. "You really don't want to take her?"

"I was just granted guardianship of two teenage boys a few days ago." Zhalia sighed. "I don't need another right now. Besides, I don't have the time to take care of an infant."

"I'd argue teenage boys take more time than babies, but it's your decision." The woman gave her a gentle smile. "I still think you should name her though. We can't call her 'baby girl' forever."

"We won't be calling her that for long anyways." Another nurse jumped in. "She's going to a home tomorrow."

"Oh, she is?" The two nurses continued speaking while Zhalia looked back down at the child.

She had never even considered being a mother before. Sure, she was willing to take in the Fear brothers, but they practically had one foot out the door already. Taking in an infant was a huge responsibility, one she wasn't even close to being ready for. Come to think of it, she had never even thought of bringing up the subject with Dante.

With another sigh, she gently shook the thoughts from her mind before she sent herself into a spiral and looked around.

Her entire body turned to stone as she saw who was standing in the doorway of the nursery.

"There you are, Zhalia." Steel gave her a terrible grin. "Can I have a word with you?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Nina Vale-** She handles tings pretty well with all the things life throws at her. She's definitely a black widow type, someone who handles things cooly and elegantly, but she does have a few moments where she melts down and reveals more about herself. Teenagers and babies are two _entirely_ different monsters. Yeah babies take more time, but they can't run out of the house without telling you where they're going and come back with a new "pet snake" and a broken leg.

 **Amelia-** Glad you're still enjoying it and I hope you like the next one!

 **Guest A-** I completely agree. I don't think she's against the idea of having kids, but I definitely don't think she'd be super sure of herself. Zhalia seriously got the short end of the stick in season 2 even though she had one of the most important roles in the whole Spiral War. I wish they would have let her power bond with more of her titans (especially Killthane or King Basilisk), and yeah she got some Spiral titans, but they weren't really interesting or new.

* * *

Zhalia didn't know what to do. This was entirely different from being trapped in a café with Steel. There, she could duck and run even though it would make a scene and get her a few consequences from the Foundation later, but this was a hospital, and the _infant ward_ no less. There were no spells or titans she could safely use in here, and she knew for a fact that Steel didn't give a damn about begin careful around kids. She was completely trapped.

Cautiously, she called one of the nurses over, all of which had stopped to stare at the Suit in confusion and worry. The woman gladly took the little girl and Zhalia followed Steel out of the room.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" Steel smiled, extending his hand. "Give me the amulet. You have no use for a titan you haven't bonded with, and something's keeping you from giving it to your foundation. If you don't, I'm afraid something bad might happen…"

Fury ignited in Zhalia's chest as he jerked his chin towards the infant. "Is that a threat?"

"It doesn't have to be."

It seems Steel has forgotten who Zhalia was, only further angering her. For whatever reason, she was well respected when she was with the Organization, but the minute she left every run of the mill Suit suddenly believed they could take her on. It was high time she reminded them that Zhalia Moon was _not_ one to be threatened. "Park. Midnight. We'll settle this then."

Steel frowned, obviously aggravated that she still wasn't cooperating. "Fine. Come alone, or you'll really regret it."

Zhalia accompanied Steel back to the elevator, and once he was at least three floors below her, she wasted no time calling Gugenheim.

"I need some people here immediately. Some Suit is threatening to come after the baby girl if I don't hand over Dutch Leon."

"I'll send someone right away. Do you know if he's acting alone?"

"No idea. I'll keep you posted, but if you don't hear from me before 1 am, I'm probably dead."

"Dante will kill me if you get hurt, so maybe cut your losses and run before it comes to that?" Gugenheim sighed. "Just be careful."

Zhalia hung up and quickly headed back to her hotel to get some rest before the fight. She woke up an hour before the fight and took the time to pack all of her things just in case. After checking to see if she had all of her amulets and summoning Gareon, she pulled out the amulet of Dutch Leon. It was old and rough looking after so many years, but the red gem still shone brilliantly. Somehow, she sensed that the titan was anticipating something. Giving it a light squeeze, she attempted to bond with it again.

This time, she felt remarkably close to it, but Leon still wouldn't reach out to her. With a frustrated noise, she shoved the amulet back into her pocket and headed out. Gareon curled up on her shoulder and turned invisible, easing some of her anxiety about the battle ahead. She reached the abandoned park exactly at midnight. A few lamps illuminated the grassy field where Steel was waiting for her.

Zhalia approached slowly. "So, how's this gonna pan out?"

"If I win, I get Dutch Leon and to bring you in. It's past time you paid for turning on us. If you win, you keep the titan and I leave your kid alone."

"First off, not my kid." Zhalia spat. "Second, I'll be dead before you take me anywhere. Let's get this over with, _Gar-goul!_ "

Wilder raised an amulet above his head. _"Slitherfang!"_

The two titans launched themselves at each other as soon as they were summoned. Zhalia called out _shadow speed_ and jumped at Steel.

"Augerfrost!" Zhalia threw herself to the side to avoid the spell. After a quick roll, she jumped up again.

"Venom hand!" The spell sent Steel flying backwards.

Gar-goul grabbed Slitherfang by the throat and attempted the pull the snake titan in two. Zhalia was completely baffled at how easily the fight was going after hitting Steel with touchram. Gar-goul successfully banished the Hecto-titan and came to help take Steel down when something hard slammed into Zhalia's back.

Gar-goul grabbed Zhalia and carried her out of harms way with a quick beat of his wings. After catching her breath, she looked back to see two more Suits both with Redcaps at their side. Steel stood again, dusting himself off and summoning Mindrone.

"Damn it," Zhalia swore as Gar-goul gently set her on the ground. Gareon, still invisible and clinging to her shoulder, hissed with displeasure, but she ordered him to keep still through their bond. _"Kilthane, Janusea!"_

The two titans erupted onto the battle field and all three rushed forwards. _"Thought Specter."_

Zhalia's form quickly dissolved and she ran for the three Suits. As long as they couldn't see her, they couldn't send their titans after her. Once she was close, Zhalia cracked her fist into one of the new Suit's gut, completely knocking the wind out of him. The man fell to his knees and she took the opportunity to swiftly knocking him out with a kick to the head. The other suit tried to shoo her off, flailing his arms before him to knock her away.

She jumped back and called out _"Venom hand"_ , and the spell easily knocked back this suit as well. Once the two were out, she turned to check on her titans. Kilthane and Gar-goul were easily keeping back the redcaps while Janusea teased the Mindrone.

Feeling confident, she allowed thought specter to fall, revealing herself again. Zhalia turned back to Steel only to find him gone. There was a sound behind her, but she couldn't move fast enough to keep him from grabbing her from behind. His arms wrapped around her front, holding her tightly as he called out another spell.

" _Raypulse!"_ He directed the power straight into her gut, making her cry out in pain. Throwing her head back, Zhalia cracked the back of her head against Steel's nose, easily breaking it and forcing him to let her go. Gareon quickly revealed himself and blasted Steel with his eye beams, throwing the man well away from her.

Somewhere in the distance, she heard someone call out another titan name. _"Take them out, Strix!"_

Zhalia could only watch as Gar-goul and Janusea were quickly taken out by the bug titans. Pain erupted through her body as the two returned to her. Kilthane managed to banish the redcap he was fighting before running to her side, ready to defend his lady till the end.

Out of the corners of her eye, Zhalia could see two more suits running towards them, each with a redcap at their side. With a ragged breath, Zhalia pulled King Basilisk's amulet from her pouch.

"Damn it!" She swore again. While she did have the strength to summon her most powerful titan, she would only be able to keep him on the field for a short period of time. Also, even though King Basilisk is incredibly strong, he's also frighteningly frail. One well-placed attack against him would end the fight for sure.

 _But she had to try._ Now that she knew Steel wasn't acting alone, if she ran now, there was a good possibility he had some suits at the hospital just waiting for a call. And even though Gugenheim sent some foundation operatives to defend the infant, Zhalia wasn't about to risk her safety.

 _She needed to protect her._ Zhalia's mind raced. _She had to keep the baby safe_.

Mindrone unleased one of its laser attacks and Kilthane threw himself in front of her. His shield held for a while, but eventually broke and the Draco-Titan Warrior took the brunt of the attack. Sparks from the attack caught the grass in front of her on fire while Kilthane's banishment brought Zhalia to her knees. Gareon batted at the fire, trying to put it out, but the flames spread quickly.

Her grip tightened around King Basilisk's amulet. Win or lose, Zhalia could _not_ run. She was not going to put that child in danger.

Power shot through her body like lightning, startling the words out of Zhalia as she began to summon King Basilisk. With the summoning interrupted, the Litho-titan didn't take form. She shivered as heat radiated throughout her body, and her hand immediately moved to her titan pouch.

It was Dutch Leon. He had finally reached out to her. And she knew _exactly_ what to do.

Putting away King Basilisk's amulet, she pulled the old amulet from her pocket. Looking at it now, all of the scuffs and scratches were gone. The gold was polished and new, and the red gem crackled with power. Holding it aloft, she finally called her new titan. _"Defend, Dutch Leon!"_

The titan burst from the amulet with a shower of flames. The golden lion stood just as tall as King Basilisk, and his blood red and golden armor sparkled in the fire light. His long tail lashed about, and white claw shaped spines jutted out of the tuff of fur at its end. The lion's golden mane flowed majestically as he tossed his head back and let out a thunderous roar.

Zhalia and Gareon stared at the great creature in wonder while the Suits seemed to second guess their attacks. Leon snarled menacingly, warning the other titans to stay back. Pulling herself to her feet, Zhalia grabbed Gareon and pulled him away from the flames. Through her bond, she could sense the titan's special ability.

"Leon, use your flame reversal!" She called out.

The great lion inhaled a deep breath, expanding its great chest and pulling in the flames that surrounded them. Once the flames were all absorbed the thick mane on his neck burst into flames. When the great titan couldn't absorb any more, he let it all loose again blasting all of the collected power right back at the Steel and the other Suits.

All of the titans were immediately eviscerated and the Suits barely managed to escape the attack in time, each desperately throwing themselves out of the way of the ball of flames. Leon kept up the pressure, jumping forwards and battering the men with his paws. He kept his claws concealed, but the lion had quite the swing. He knocked all of them off of their feet and gave another threatening roar as the Suits scrambled to stand.

"You'll pay for this, Moon!" Steel called as he and the others ran off.

Leon let out another bellowing roar in response while returning to her side. Carefully, the lion lowered his head and gently nuzzled at her cheek.

"Thank you." Zhalia whispered, gently petting his muzzle. "Thank you so much."

The titan returned to his amulet and Zhalia sent a message to Gugenheim. She returned to her hotel, keeping Gareon summoned just in case, and collapsed onto the bed. When she woke up the next morning, Zhalia was sure at least two of her ribs were cracked, if not completely broken.

Despite how tired she was and how sore her body felt, she got up and showered anyways. A text message had woken her up. One from a nurse saying the foster family would be there to pick up the child late that afternoon, and once she was out of the shower she saw there was another. Bakker had sent her a message saying that they wanted to speak to her one last time and she'd be free to go home the next day.

Well, the next day was Den and Harrison's first day of school. She'd have to catch an early flight, or start the long drive as soon as she could this afternoon.

Zhalia headed straight to the hospital- well, after having a breakfast that consisted mostly of coffee and pain killers in an attempt to erase the previous night- in order to spend as much time with the little girl as she could before the child was taken away from her forever. The idea of simply offering to take her kept popping up in Zhalia's mind, but she knew it wouldn't be good for any of them.

The nurses greeted her happily, and were completely understanding when Zhalia asked to have some alone time with the infant. She ended up losing track of the hours that passed as she cared for the girl. Eventually, the officers came to question her once more. Bakker understood the situation and allowed the infant to stay in the room as she was questioned, though Smit seemed displeased.

Their interview was a short one. She finished by signing some papers and making sure they had her number in case something else came up. Bakker finally got the courage to ask her to give him a call some time, which was when she pretended to get a message from Dante, and explained that her boyfriend had been very concerned about the entire situation.

Bakker appeared crestfallen for only a moment, then returned to his usual chipper as the officers said their goodbyes. By the time the three had left and Zhalia returned to the nursery, it was late in the afternoon… and finally time to say goodbye.

"We'll take good care of her." Mr. Holt reassured. "We've been told she's a very happy child. We can't wait to make her a part of our family."

The two were an older couple and had a history of taking in abandoned infants and young children. Over the twenty years the two had been married, they had taken in eleven kids, with the little girl to be their twelfth and final child. They hadn't brought any of their other children with them, more than likely to keep from disturbing the other infants in the ward, which all of the nurses obviously appreciated.

"She's been a good kid, so far." Zhalia did her best to return their smiles.

"Did you ever give her a name?' Mrs. Holt asked.

"No, I'm afraid not. I'm not too good a naming things."

"Your name is Zhalia, correct?" The woman examined her carefully as Zhalia nodded. "What a lovely pendant."

"Zhalia's hand immediately reached up to touch Dutch Leon's amulet. It was completely unrecognizable in its rejuvenated form, though she did want to wear it in front of the cops just to be sure no one would be suspicious.

"Thank you. It was a gift."

"Oh, I know the perfect name, Thomas," Mrs. Holt turned to her husband. "Zhalia Leona Holt. It flows well, right?"

Zhalia was completely stunned. She glanced around at the nurses to see if she had heard correctly, and all of the other women were smiling happily at her.

"It's perfect." Mr. Holt replied. Then he turned to Zhalia again. "Can we exchange numbers? Then we can keep you updated on how she's doing. But only if you want to."

Fighting back a surprising amount of tears, Zhalia wordlessly accepted the man's phone and entered her number into the device while he did the same with hers.

"Thank you." Zhalia finally managed to whisper.

"No, thank you." Mrs. Holt gently took her hand. "If it weren't for you, who knows what would have happened to little Zhalia here?"

Zhalia's heart swelled as the woman called the child by her name. The three spoke for a little while longer, but it was soon time for the new family to go home. The seeker gave little Zhalia Leona one last hug, a small kiss on the head, and then headed out herself.

It was time to find her own way home. Back to _her own_ family. It was then that she understood why the lion in the story never fought back against his captors, and why Dutch Leon wouldn't immediately bond with her.


	7. Final Chapter

**Nina Vale-** It took a lot of self control to not make up some dumb reason for Zhalia to take her, but I knew it wouldn't make sense. Zhalia's 1.)busy as all freaking get out. 2.) adopted two teenagers 3.) got quite the list of enemies 4)... well, you get my point. I totally may or may not have copped out and named the little girl after Zhalia because I couldn't for the life of me think of a good name for her (Leona was my first idea but it never seemed quite right). The Organization not treating Zhalia like the threat she is is a common trope that bothers the hell out of me. Just because they turned on you doesn't mean they've lost any of their abilities. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

 **Amelia-** Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the final chapter!

* * *

Den and Harrison refused to go into the academy. Zhalia had promised them she would be there, and Zhalia didn't break her promises to them.

"Listen," Sophie began carefully. "I'm sure Zhalia did her best to get here, but if the cops didn't want her to leave, there isn't much she can do."

"Yeah there is." Harrison scoffed, kicking at the ground. "Zhalia's a top notch spy. She can get away from some run of the mill cops."

"And then she'd have a warrant out for her arrest." Sophie countered. "What do you think will happen if she gets something like that on her record not even a week after getting guardianship over you two?"

Both boys hesitated, looking down at the ground.

"Hey, I know! Maybe we can call her?" Lok offered, pulling out his phone. "At least she'd be able to hear everything. I'd be like she was using thought specter and was just invisible!"

Lok glanced at Dante, who quietly shook his head. "Zhalia did her best to get here. I'm sorry this happened."

"Sorry about what, Dante?" A voice startled all four of them.

"Zhalia!" The fear brothers dropped their bags and tackled their surrogate sister, following her to the ground.

"Watch the ribs!" She hissed, and both boys scrambled back. They then helped her to her feet for a proper hug.

"When did you get back?" Sophie asked.

"Ten minutes ago. I don't think I'll be able to use hyper stride without my legs shaking for about a week."

"What happened with the baby? Oh, and the amulet? Why do your ribs hurt?" The twins bombarded her with questions, but then the final warning bell rang.

"Get to class, you two." She ruffled their hair and turned to Lok and Sophie. "Be sure to show them the ropes, okay?"

"Wait, we have to give you your gift though!" Harrison set down and unzipped his backpack, and pulled out a perfectly wrapped gift. With a quick glance at Sophie, Zhalia confirmed that she was in on it too, which explained how perfect the wrapping was, and the looks on both Dante's and Lok's faces also told her they knew about this as well.

"Guys…" She sighed as it was pushed into her hands.

"Open it!" Den cheered. "Come on, we've only got a few minutes!"

With another sigh, Zhalia opened the present, and found herself speechless for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. It was a small but thick book, and on the cover was a picture of the entire team.

"It's a photo album!" Harrison blushed. "There are some photos in it already. Everybody helped us scrounge some up."

She carefully opened the decorated front and smiled at the sight of some of the first training day photos the team had gotten of Den. Harrison didn't have many pictures, but in the few he did have, his incredible awkwardness pulled a chuckle out of her throat.

The next page made her physically tremble. There was a few old photos from her childhood. She looked to Dante, raising an eyebrow.

"This is just the beginning of Klaus' wallet collection." Dante gave her a gentle smile.

"Enough of the sappy stuff, turn the page!" Lok was literally on his tiptoes and his excited grin made Zhalia a little worried.

And she had every right to be concerned, as the next page was a full two-page spread of pictures taken in secret of Dante and her kissing or holding hands surrounded by sticker hearts and other sickeningly cute decorations.

"Wow." She said flatly, too tired to go off on the four. She closed the album and handed it to Dante. "Now, let's get something else to add to it."

Quickly whipping out her phone, Zhalia snapped a photo of the two brothers, who ended up looking very startled in the photo. "Just one more picture for the album to remember this special day. Now, get to class."

The twins both groaned as both Lok and Sophie laughed and began to drag them away. All four waved their goodbyes as they headed off. Zhalia and Dante watched until they disappeared behind the Academy doors.

"So," Dante began. "Where's your luggage if you got here ten minutes ago?"

"Still on the baggage carousel. Did you ride your dumb moped here or did you walk?"

"Dumb moped? You must really be tired." Dante laughed as he led her to a nearby parking spot. "Also, the Moped exploded, and after combining the insurance and my latest paycheck, I traded it in for something a little more my speed."

Zhalia paused as Dante pulled out a key. "Well damn. I'm impressed."

She climbed onto the black and gold Yamaha MT-07 after Dante and held onto him as he revved it up. After a short drive to retrieve her luggage, they headed back to Dante's for some much needed alone time.

"So, how'd things go with the baby?" Dante asked as he prepared some coffee for the obviously exhausted woman and fished out some more painkillers from his drawer.

"You're not gonna believe this." Zhalia chuckled as she tossed back the pills without any drink. "The foster parents named her after me."

"Really?" Dante smiled.

"Little Miss Zhalia Leona Holt." She recited. "I was too tired to argue. They've already bombarded my phone with pictures of her with their other kids."

"I'm glad everything worked out." Dante handed her a cup and poured some of the piping hot liquid for her. "Gugenheim told me you had a run in with some suits."

"Yep." Zhalia answered after downing the entire cup, scalding her mouth and throat, but she was still too tired to care. "They're the reason I bonded with Dutch Leon though."

"Oh really?" Dante pulled out his holotome and took the amulet when she offered it to him.

DUTCH LEON. ATTACK 4. DEFENSE 6. TYPE: Swara-titan Warrior. SPECIAL ABILITY: FLAME REVERSAL. SIZE: LARGE

The two listened to the holotome before Zhalia continued. "The titan wanted me to prove myself. That's why I couldn't bond with it right away. One of the Organization goons threatened the kid if I didn't hand over the amulet, and it really pissed me off. I wanted to keep her safe, which is what the father lion was doing the entire time in that story I told you about. He didn't fight back in order to keep his family safe."

"Well, I'm just glad _you're_ safe. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you. Also, you've got two other people depending on you now. A family to defend, like the lion in the story." Dante closed the holotome and handed the amulet back to his partner. "You shouldn't have gone alone. What would have happened to Den and Harrison if you were killed then and there?"

Zhalia let out a deep sigh after finishing off a second cup. "Well, I was going to bring this up later, but… Listen, I know you care about them too, and I think it's safe to assume either you yourself or someone you know would take up the task, so I was going to ask if I could put it in paper? Like in my will or something. It's just precautionary, but I don't want them to ever have to worry about where they're going next."

"…I'd be honored, but let's not dwell on that right now." He gave her a quick kiss, carefully lifted her off her feet and headed for the stairs.

"Listen, Dante, I'd love to, but I might actually fall asleep. That coffee didn't help at all." Zhalia wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Honestly, after all the things those four got up to while you were away, sleep is the only thing on my mind right now." He pressed another kiss against her lips.

"Good, because I'd really rather not insult you like that on my first day back."

Dante gently laid her on the bed and took his place right beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she settled in. "So, what was it like taking care of _little_ Zhalia?"

"Hard, and I wasn't even doing it full time. I'm glad Den and Harrison are fourteen years out of that phase." Zhalia let out a small laugh. "But… it was nice. She's a good kid. The Holts are lucky to have her."

Dante was quiet for a moment, and Zhalia was nearly asleep when he spoke up again. "This is probably really not the time to have this talk… but what are your thoughts on having kids?"

Zalia blinked in surprise, but was secretly glad she didn't have to be the one to bring it up. Carefully, she sat up enough to look into Dante's amber brown eyes, then leaned down to give him a short kiss. "I think… we need to have this conversation some other time. I'm so tired I feel like I've been drugged- don't ask. But… I think I might be open to the idea someday."

"I think I might be open to the idea someday as well. Now, get some sleep… You can't even open your eyes now, can you?"

At some point, Zhalia must have let her eyes close, but now she indeed couldn't get them to open again. She shook her head and Dante gently guided her back down to the pillows, which Zhalia quickly abandoned in favor of her boyfriend's chest.

Today was the first day she was going to be a legitimate older sister. Den and Harrison were hers by law, and even though they weren't infants, she knew she would need as much sleep as possible to keep the two safe and out of trouble until they didn't need her to anymore.


End file.
